UNIS/CP/556
11 February 2008
Media Advisory
Exclusive Preview of 'The Journey' with Emma Thompson
Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to join Oscar-winning actress and take questions about the Parliamentary Forum and Film Festival
VIENNA, 11 February (UN Information Service) -- Members of the media are invited to join Emma Thompson, Oscar-winning actress and Chair of the Helen Bamber Foundation, and Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for an exclusive preview of The Journey, a unique art installation that maps the journey of a victim of human trafficking and opens this week in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday, 12 February from 12.00 - 14.00 hours outside the Hofburg (Heldenplatz).
The Journey Against Sex Trafficking uses seven transport containers to illustrate the brutal and harrowing experiences of women sold into the sex trade. The Journey aims to show visitors the reality of human trafficking - a crime that happens every day, all around the world. The installation arrives in Vienna to coincide with the first-ever global forum on human trafficking, The Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, which opens on Wednesday, 13 February at 10.00 hours at the Austria Centre Vienna (ACV).
Mrs. Thompson and Mr. Costa will take questions from the media 12.00 - 12.30 hours, after which the media will be invited to an exclusive preview of the installation. The Journey opens to the public from 10.00 to 18.00 hours daily, from 13 to 16 February.
Mr. Costa will answer questions about the Parliamentary Forum, also taking place on Tuesday, which is bringing together over 100 Parliamentarians from across the world to discuss the lead that legislators can take to fight the crime. They will be debating a new handbook which outlines the practical legislative steps that can be taken by elected officials to fight human trafficking. He will also be taking questions about the Film Forum, which begins on Tuesday evening at 20.00 and will be screening 19 movies from 11.00 - 22.30 hours at the Metro Kino (Johannesgasse 4, 1010 Vienna) until Friday, 15 February.
***
The Vienna Forum will bring together 1,200 experts, legislators, law enforcement teams, business leaders, NGO representatives and trafficking victims from over 100 countries. The Forum has been convened under the auspices of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).
* *** *
For further information, contact:
Walter
Kemp
Acting Spokesperson
UNODC
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060 5629
Mobile : (+43-699) 1459-5629
Email:
walter.kemp@unodc.org
Members of the media who would like to attend the preview, kindly register with:
Broadcast:
Faridoun
Hemani
Tel.: (+44) 7748 648 355
Email:
fhemani@linxproductions.com
Print:
Toby
Orr
Tel: (+44) 7736 175 311
Email:
toby.orr@portlandpr.co.uk
For further information on UN.GIFT and the Vienna Forum, please visit www.ungift.org
For further information on the Helen Bamber Foundation, visit www.helenbamber.org
For further information on the Film Forum, visit www.filmarchiv.at
